imaginar
verbCEFR B2
What does “imaginar” mean in English?
to imagine, to picture
to imagine, to picture (imaginar cómo sería — form a mental image or concept of something not present)
Example sentences
Es difícil imaginar cómo sería la sociedad actual sin los avances tecnológicos de los últimos veinte años.
It is difficult to imagine what today's society would be like without the technological advances of the last twenty years.
¿Te imaginas tener que empezar de cero a los cincuenta años después de décadas trabajando en lo mismo?
Can you imagine having to start from scratch at fifty after decades working in the same field?
Imagina por un momento que eres el responsable de tomar esa decisión: ¿qué harías?
Imagine for a moment that you are the person responsible for making that decision: what would you do?
How to use it
Imaginar(se) means 'to imagine'. Both forms are equally standard: imaginar (transitive) and imaginarse (reflexive). Structure: imaginar/imaginarse + noun or + que + clause: 'imagina que eres el director' (imagine you are the director). Common discourse uses: 'imagínate' (just imagine / can you believe it — exclamative), 'como te puedes imaginar' (as you can imagine — common filler). At B2, the speculative and hypothetical uses are important for fluency.
Common mistake
'Imaginar' and 'imaginarse' are interchangeable in most contexts. The reflexive is slightly more colloquial. 'Imagínate' (can you imagine / just imagine!) is a very high-frequency spoken exclamative in Spanish that English speakers rarely use because English does not have an exact equivalent with the same discourse-marker function.